Clown in a Cornfield
Ratings106
Average rating3.8
Wanted to love this, but too many characters and I could care less. Everyone was one dimensional and they were killed just for the sake of being killed. There's a way to do it where it's still fun, but not this.
This book reminded me a lot of The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson. On one hand, it comes off as YA, but it is also a gore fest. I'm not sure where the target audience is. I'm guessing it's somewhere around the same high school kids that flocked to I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream.
My suspension of disbelief just did not hold on for the ride. I found myself constantly questioning the motives of the main characters and townspeople and wasn't really sure their actions echoed their desires.
Not very well written, but hey, it was fun I guess. I wouldn't recommend this for serious horror readers over high school age unless you're in the mood for some literary fast food.
This was such a ride from start to finish! It's follows older teens but doesn't pull back on the gory, gritty descriptions. Really enjoyed this for Spooky Season and liked the epilogue giving us a hint into the next book. Can't wait to continue.
The YA dialogue at the beginning kinda drove me insane but the not so YA horror was well done
*3.5 stars. This was fun for a decent portion but unfortunately, as the body count goes up, it descends into some hokey, gore-filled madness and the heavy-handed approach to the conceit, which is certainly worthy of exploration, kind of dulled the impact. Additionally the characters are pretty darn thin. Still, I had fun, for the most part, zipping through this.
Yeah, I'm not sure I would stick around a town that has a clown as it's mascot. I'm looking at you Plainview.
DNFd twice. But finally powered through. It was worth it. It felt more like a movie turned book, which makes sense now that I know the movie rights were sold before the book was released. It'll definitely make a great movie though!! I can't wait to see it!
4.5 stars
Destiny and I set a schedule for us to read this to hold us accountable but we did read it with several people in a Discord group that we are a part of. If you couldn't tell by the rating I really enjoyed this one. It took a bit to long for things to get going but once they did man was it a ride. I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation of what was to come. This one is pretty gory and descriptive so be aware of that going into it. This is random but this town and the adults in this town reminded me of the adults in the movie Footloose with how adamant they were about the kids behavior. When it comes to the adults I thought it could be a little over the top at times but overall I really enjoyed the time I spent with this book and I can't wait to pick up the second book next month.
I feel bad for clowns because I never ever want to be near one ever for the rest of my life.
i really loved this book and this my favorite slasher book i have read because i havent had as good of luck with the other ones I have read. The kills in this were so good and the twist were as well. I loved the Missouri town setting and I think this book was very well executed. I will definitely read the sequel!
On, what fun! Reminded me of a gorier Hot Fuzz. For the the greater good, indeed.
This was such a great spooky season read, and this Midwest Gal appreciated the Midwest setting. Solid characters, great gruesome gore, and yet another reason to be afraid of clowns. Ahh I just loved this one so much! RIP Janet, you were a boss until the very last.
4 Frendos out of 5!
This is the slasher I've been wanting! Quinn and her father move to a small midwest town from Philadelphia for a fresh start. They end up moving to a town that is at war. The young and the old are at odds but to an excessive degree. As the tag line says “The kids are not alright”.
I think I'm lucky - I'm at the age where I grew up without having a computer or internet connection in my home because it wasn't that common (unless you were the cool house) but it was available so I had more access to information than my parents had. I didn't have a smart phone until I was an adult, but I remember going to my friends house to chat on AIM in middle school and then check my MySpace in high school. So I can see how abnoxious how important technology is to kids these days is but am also an adult that relies on it every single day. I've also rolled my eyes and thought “Okay, Boomer” multiple times in my life. For a war on the young and the old I'd be right in the middle, but this book makes you pick a side. And by the end there's a clear good or bad side that may not be so clear in the beginning.
I did a tandem read/listen to this book and I flew through it. If you don't include my time on vacation I finished this in a day and half. The writing is entertaining and very easy to read. The slasher aspects of it, even though it's a YA book, did not disappoint. It's gory and it's graphic. There's chainsaws, knives, bows, and the less exciting but still violent guns.
I highly recommend those that are slasher fans (both young and old). If you're an audiobook fan I highly recommend the audiobook - the narrator was great.
This book is an absolute blast. I'm not sure I want to get much more in depth than that. I was looking for some fun, punchy horror and I got it.
The set-up is a simple one, and fairly recognizable to anyone who has watched a horror movie, or really any movie centered around teens. Quinn Maybrook and her widowed father move from Philadelphia to a small town in the Midwest called Kettle Springs. They're looking for a fresh start, and the town needed a new doctor. Despite wanting to keep her head down, she finds herself falling in with an unusual band of rebels - as though the popular kids had gone a little rotten. When she's invited to a party out in the cornfield, Kettle Springs starts to feel pretty cool. And then a clown with a cross bow shows up.
Clown in a Cornfield is not remotely subtle. It takes a look at our country and the current zeitgeist, and puts it in microcosm. With lots of blood, whirring chainsaws, wayward teens and angry Boomers. This book is about how much we hate young people, and why we keep killing them in the kinds of movies this book was inspired by. And despite taking on all this so unapologetically, it is still so much fun. It does take its time to set up the character dynamics, and honestly I didn't mind that much, because once it gets going, it does not stop.
For horror, it's not that scary. It has gore and it has violence, but not really the kind of suspense that gets you spooked, though there is plenty of tension and some great classic horror beats. I actually found the unraveling and the revealing of the villains a bit more interesting than the perseverance of the central characters, but that's a subtle distinction. I kept turning the page, and I had a damn good time doing it.
Some unexpected heroes and villains, but a mostly predictable plot. Still a great read tho with constant movement.
Well that was unexpected...and fun! I went into this one completely blind. I only got this one because of the cover and how it looked creepy. Plus clowns “shudder”
Honestly, I'm pretty sure this was the worst book I've ever read. For the record, I've never given a book one star up until this point.
I surprisingly loved this book. I'll tell you why surprisingly.
I surprisingly loved this book because at around the 120ish page mark, I was already thinking of giving it a 3 star. It was interesting, but didn't really capture my attention. I was especially thinking of giving this book a 2 star when the killings started happening because I found things to be easily predictable.
BUT THEN
I read on and well, I was wrong. I was mistaken and glad I was. Yes, I did predict many of the things, but the things that I did not predict made up for what I did and made it worth while. Plus, the things I was right about and guessed correctly, weren't that big in the grand scheme of things. Even though I predicted some parts, I still found myself enjoying the story.
I was truly invested in this story. I felt the anxiety, the fear, the adrenaline rush. When characters died, I didn't just gloss over their death, I really felt for them. While reading, in my mind I felt like I was watching Scream or any other slasher film. That's how I envisioned it and it was great.
3.5 ✨ rounded up! this book felt like a classic horror movie from the first chapter & i loved that. it's super gory & has an EXTREMELY high body count, so if you're looking for a slasher to read during spooky season, this ones for you!
however, i had to knock off 1 star bc the inner thoughts & dialogue of the teenagers was laughable at times. like girl....... you're really judging a man's sweat stains in the midst of escaping a serial killer...... you can't be serious. but that's just YA voice i guess ?? & the other half star i took off was due to the cheesy epilogue and ultimate motivation behind the killings (yikes cnjsjsndsnla).
overall, great concept & atmosphere with average execution!! it lies somewhere between No Exit (which was 5 stars for me) & There's Someone Inside Your House (which was 2 stars for me).